REWG Opens With Laughter, Singing
The 6th Annual Rural Education Working Group Meeting opened tonight in Charleston, South Carolina.
And what a good thing it is.
The meeting, sponsored by the Rural School and Community Trust and hosted this year by the South Carolina Rural Education Grassroots Committee, brings together rural education activists from around the country to share and learn from each other.
This year there are 90 advocates for rural children and their schools who are participating. They're from as far away as Maine and South Dakota as from as close as John's Island.
We'll be learning and thinking together about what the so-called "new economy" is likely to mean for rural communities and for the education of our kids who live in rural places. And, we'll be hearing from rural advocates about how they're organizing for better funding, supporting kids who are learning English for the first time, connecting academic curriculum to local communities, getting involved with school facilities processes… We'll hear about new research and think about telling our stories.
Most of all, we'll be lifted up--by each other--and by the common values and commitments we share to protecting rural children and the communities they live in and to making sure those kids get the great education they deserve. We’ll take joy in the accomplishments of the people who are here. And we’ll bolster ourselves and each other for the struggles still ahead.
Tonight. Well, tonight, we laughed as we introduced ourselves to new acquaintances and reunited with old friends. Here are our South Carolina hosts with some special songs they performed for us.
We were moved as we learned about the Citizenship Schools that started on John's Island and undergirded the Civil Rights movement--a story new to some participants and deep in the hearts of others.
Nowhere better to be tonight.